BruinDust

I still have a pro stock A-Series (2018 model) and as far as great balanced feel it's still maybe the best stick I've used in that regard. Love stickhandling with that thing. But the blade and puck feel stunk. Not dampened. Not pingy. Just blah. Blade felt like one of those old wooden Sherwoods with the fibreglass blade. Pretty much why I stopped using it. I found the blade on my Project X pro stock felt a million times better.

I just broke a True Project X Pro Stock (Stephane Patry) right where the blade meets the shaft. Blew up on a quick snapper during warm-up. Funny thing is the very first time I used it (roughly mid-Feb), I got a slash that chipped off the outer paint layer and I thought what I saw was a small imperfection in the shaft construction and that is exactly where it broke last Sunday (May 15). I will say performance-wise it was the best stick I have ever used and I was coming from a CCM Jetspeed FT2 which was near the top of my list as well. I never thought my beloved Ultra Tacks would be topped but the True Project X blew it away. Durability wise I am disappointed I usually make a stick last longer. I have noticed in on league I play in that Trues (retail and pro stock) seem to break more than any other stick brand. I've been collecting broken shafts to make some road hockey sticks for my friends kids and half of what I got are True's.

If my STX Stallion HPRs (2017) are any indication, they make the tightest fitting glove. When comparing them (a 4-roll glove) against my pro stock CCM HG4RRPs (also a 4-roll glove), the difference in volume is drastic when considering both are 13 inch gloves with traditional 4-roll design.

I just recently went down the rabbit hole called skate profiling and started off with a 9.5/10.5 profile. My LHS felt it would be a good starting point and they were correct. Only adjustment I needed was I had to go back and drop my radius of hollow from my normal 5/8 that I used for years to 11/16. Now they are perfect, I'll never go back to non-profiled steel.

I recently switched to the Jetspeed line (coming from Ribcore and Tacks) and I agree. The Hybrid Kickpoint is great and the stick is a lot more forgiving on shots than I found with Ribcore or Tacks (especially Ribcore, but I'm not suited for low-kick sticks). I have the FT2 and if you can find one on clearance in your specs you can't go wrong. It's the best stick I've ever used. I like it because it still has Sigmatex but also weighs above 400 grams. But the FT3 Pro and FT3 are great sticks. Even the FT3 Team stick is solid for it's price point, just a bit heavier (which some players prefer). I don't think you can go wrong with any of the recent Jetspeed stuff (FT3 Pro, FT3, FT3 Team, FT2).

Usually Vendor Exclusive (SMU) sticks are based on the stick at the same price point but with added features from the stick from the next price point. Here the Maxx SE is priced the same as a Team Stick at Sportchek ($179.99), so I can only assume it has a feature or two borrowed from the Trigger 5. Really the only two differences between the Team Stick and the Trigger 5 are blade construction (Ascent 2 vs. Agilty) and the Trigger 5 uses X-Flow tech to bring down the weight by an additonal 30 grams. So your probably getting one of these two (be sort of pointless to give the customer both, wouldn't make much sense to even sell Trigger 5s if you had the same stick at a lower price sans paint job.). If your actually going to the store to purchase, pick up a 415-420 gram stick and compare. If the weights are different, your probably just getting the different blade construction.

They sometimes tricky to find in medium or large, I've noticed this as well. I had the same issue as you did with the Pro-X700 wearing a UA team sock that was thicker than my Bauer low cuts. Feet hurt more, skates less comfortable, and I wear an oversized skate really so volume shouldn't be an issue but it was I think, and the arc support. Went back to my low cuts and all is well again.

Is there something wrong with the Bauer low-cut socks? I use them and they are perfectly fine. I mean, if you are using a low-cut sock, are you really worried about cut resistance? Most of the sock is covered up by the skate boot. What is the OP looking to gain by switching from Bauer low-cut socks to another low-cut alternative?

I find tinkering your set-up part of the fun of playing. Every time I think I'm "done" tinkering I find something else to change. I've probably taped the knob of my stick 20 different variations this season looking for the "perfect grip" for me using a combination of different materials (cloth tape, electric, Lizard Skins, stretch grip, athletic tape). Now I've started to finally look at my blade profile. Tried out a stock 10 ft. profile a couple weeks ago and once I adjusted to the increase in terms of pivots/turns/edgework/etc. I like the added power out of each stride but most of all loved the added stability and balance. The added stability and balance has improved my passing and shooting, and I also noticed I tend to keep my head up more than before. On the flip side, I have an extra set of 9 ft. profiled steel I might bring down to an 8 or 7 to see how going the opposite direction affects my skating. I like testing some things out during the summer months as most skates are just pick-up shinny games and a more relaxed pace than the league-games in the winter.

By the sounds of it you may just want to go with the happy middle ground and choose a stick with a hybrid kick-point like the Jetspeed line. Curve-wise it's personal preference. I like P29s/P19s and P/38s for ice hockey with a puck, but with a ball I prefer something flatter like a Bauer P9 or the old Easton Iginla and Zetterberg curves. If your going to use one stick for ball and puck than I'd probably aim for something once again in the happy middle ground. Your P88 should hit that mark, but if you want to consider a higher lie curve, try the P29.

I call them "Demo sticks", basically a batch is made for that particular player to try out, usually around training camp. Often times the player doesn't make a brand switch and now you have this batch of sticks that they won't be using so they often end up on the secondary market and retail market. Our local LHS a few years ago got a pile of True A-series and X-series sticks in for all sorts of NHL players who have never used True before or since. I ended up with a Tyler Motte A-Series. They were under $200 (at the time in late 2018) and legit A-series and X-series shafts so they were great value.

I cut the thumb loops off a pair of gloves once. All I managed to do was ruin a pair of gloves. Didn't like the thumb loops gone at all.

Reminds me of another one, the Bauer Supreme aluminum. It was a medium grey with royal blue lettering, came out in the early-to-mid 1990s. I was a fan of the Bauer Supreme wood stick which was white with the "Supreme" lettering yellow instead of the blue. So I thought the Supreme aluminum looked awesome with the blue and grey. Anyways we had a local store that sold used gear and sure enough, had one of these used Supreme aluminums available. I pestered my father for weeks until he finally caved and bought it. I knew nothing about sticks other than I thought it looked awesome. What a piece of junk. It was extremely heavy, awful balance, practically no flex in the hands of a 13-14 year old minor player. I couldn't use it. After all that badgering to get my father to buy it I think I used it one or two games and it became a permanent spare after that.

Pretty much any Ribcore stick I've used (ASY, Trigger 2 PMT, 3D). Which is too bad because the Ribcore line is my favorite stick line based solely on appearance, love the green and black scheme. But in any of the Ribcore's I've had the shooting was "meh". Probably just doesn't fit my mechanics using a low-kick point stick.

Thanks for sharing this. I thought the ranking of the FT2 was interesting, so much so that my LHS had them knocked down 40% on clearance and I luckily had a gift card to us so I picked one up (not that I needed a new stick but whatever). After a bit of usage, I concur that the stick is more "forgiving" when it comes to shooting. As was pointed out, you can still get a nice shot off even if your mechanics are off a bit or your balance isn't perfect. I own both Trigger 2s and 3Ds (low-kick) as well as Super Tacks 2.0 and Ultra Tacks (Mid). I find with the low-kick, you really have to grip hard and snap to get the most out of them, while I find with the mid-kick, your mechanics/follow-through need to be sound to really load up the shaft get the most out of those sticks. The FT2 seems to me anyways better able to handle a wider variety of in-game shooting opportunities. Which is sort of how it's marketed.

Reading this thread just makes me appreciate my plain jane Bauer Nexus 7000s even more.

There is a market for this product no doubt. But this isn't a product I would use as I much prefer cloth laces and swap mine out every 4-5 months.

My pro stock Ultra Tacks (and yes it was a legit mid-kick UT, not the LK team version) is still to this day the best stick I have ever used. Like you said just a super smooth and consistent kick.

I am also a big fan of the blade on the Super Tacks 2.0 as well. I picked up a couple Trigger 2's on clearance and I still like the ST 2.0 blade better.

I think you might be confusing "D" and "E" with width measurements for skates. Superfeet use letter to denote overall sizes, for men's sizes it goes B (Smallest) up to F (Largest). I had previously worn "E" but felt the heel fit wasn't ideal and "D" was a better fit for my heel size even though the 1/4 inch gap wasn't an issue as I could cut/trim to a perfect length fit. I skated in the "D" size for the first time a couple days ago and felt the difference in edge control was notable vs. "E" so I'm trying to find a way to alleviate the issue of the footbed shifting slightly before having to revert back to "E" (which honestly I would probably just save the money and return to stock footbeds).

Thanks! Appreciate the reply.

What are your thoughts on using this on the bottom side of the Superfeet? Here's my issue. I have a pair of Bauer Nexus 7000s (2014) in an 8-D. My Superfeet Carbon were 3 years old so I just replaced them, but after some digging around the internet, seemed like Size E which I had been using is too big (I agree the "heel" swims around a bit) so this time I went with a Size D. The width of Size D is nearly a perfect fit for my skates so very little trimming. However, the D-size SF footbeds are about a quarter-inch shorter than my stock footbeds and there is a small gap near the toe cap. This gap causes the SF footbed to shift forward toward the toecap a little bit while skating, there is some "play" there with the footbed, which is reducing the heel lock. Should I be concerned about this? Do you think the Rust-o-leum product would be of any benefit on the bottom-side of the foot-bed in order to prevent them sliding forward by adding some non-skid grip? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

I have Superfeet Carbon in my Bauer Nexus 7000s (2014) but could easily go back to the stock foot-beds that came with the skates if need be. The definitely feel different, don't get me wrong, but as a skating performance enhancer I don't really notice a much improvement in my skating from a Superfeet footbed compared to the stock footbed.

Protect you, protect others, whatever. The point I was making was that splash guard ain't going to do anything to prevent that as it doesn't cover the entire area leaving the bottom part exposed. It reduces the amount of your "spray" by such a miniscule amount it's basically inconsequential. Bauer is just trying to take your money. Seriously you could probably make a more effective solution at home with some saran wrap and tape.

I'm sorry but it needs to be said. That Bauer splash guard isn't going to do a darn thing in regards to protecting the wearer from contracting COVID-19. The fact it doesn't even cover the entire bottom portion of the Bauer face-shield leaving the bottom rung of hole exposed is all you need to know about how effective this gimmick, yes gimmick, is. Bauer is simply trying to exploit the Coronavirus pandemic to increase revenue by trying to sell you flimsy plastic splash guards for $20 USD per pack, and increase their sales of their new Bauer Concept 3 face-shield, the only shield the splash-guard is made to fit. If your concerned about contracting COVID at the rink while playing, the CCM facemask to me is your only option. The splash-guard gimmick from Bauer is just a waste of your money, especially if you have to shell out for the Concept 3 shield along with it.